Automakers Recall 12 Million New Cars for Takata Airbag Inflators

CARS.COM — Less than a month after federal regulators announced a massive expansion of Takata airbag inflator recalls, the affected pool of cars has become a lot clearer. Automakers this week announced 12 million new Takata recalls in 12 separate campaigns, with affected cars as wide ranging as the Nissan Versa and the Ferrari 458 Italia. But many of these cars were already under previous Takata recalls, complicating matters in an ongoing safety crisis that regulators have linked to 10 deaths in the U.S. and more than 100 injuries worldwide.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has pushed to make all inflator recalls national in scope, but it’s conducting the latest expansion “in a phased approach” among three zones based on humidity, the agency told Cars.com today.

Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi will recall the following cars, though NHTSA did not specify geographic regions:

2006-2007 Lancer sedans, including the Lancer Evolution, built from June 29, 2005, to June 19, 2007

Dates of manufacture by month are printed on a sticker in the driver’s door jamb.

In addition, FCA is recalling the Mitsubishi Raider pickup truck, a corporate sibling to the Dodge Dakota, for the 2006-2008 model years in all three zones. FCA is recalling the Raider for the 2009 model year in zones A and B only.

Nissan

All three zones:

2003-2004 Infiniti I

Zones A and B:

2005-2008 Infiniti FX

2006-2008 Infiniti M

2007-2008 Nissan Versa

Zone A only:

2009-2010 Infiniti M

2009-2011 Nissan Versa

Subaru

All three zones:

2003-2004 Subaru Baja

2003-2004 Subaru Legacy

2003-2004 Subaru Outback

Zones A and B:

2005-2006 Subaru Baja

2006-2008 Subaru Impreza

2006-2008 Subaru Tribeca

2006 Saab 9-2X (related to Impreza)

Zone A only:

2009-2011 Subaru Forester

2009-2011 Subaru Impreza

2009-2011 Subaru Legacy

2009-2011 Subaru Outback

2009-2011 Subaru Tribeca

Toyota

Zones A and B:

2007-2008 Lexus ES

2008 Lexus IS F

2006-2008 Lexus IS sedan

2008 Scion xB

2007-2008 Toyota Yaris

Zone A only:

2009-2011 Lexus ES

2010-2011 Lexus GX

2010-2011 Lexus IS convertible

2009-2011 Lexus IS F

2009-2011 Lexus IS sedan

2009-2011 Scion xB

2010-2011 Toyota 4Runner

2009-2011 Toyota Corolla

2009-2011 Toyota Matrix

2011 Toyota Sienna

2009-2011 Toyota Yaris

2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe (corporate twin to the Toyota Matrix)

Toyota did not issue any recalls for Zone C, but it already recalled 1.58 million cars earlier this week in accordance with NHTSA’s May 4 expansion. Many of the cars above overlap with that list.

Weren’t These Cars Already Recalled?

Many of these cars were already under previous Takata recalls. Documents posted by NHTSA indicate that some recalls cover cars not previously recalled, while others supersede prior recalls, including cars with already completed repairs. Indeed, Honda said today that about half of its 4.5 million Honda and Acura cars under this week’s expansion were already involved in an earlier Takata recall, and some cars with prior repairs for the driver-side airbag inflator will now require an additional recall for the passenger-side inflator.

“A lot of these have already been recalled because the vast majority of the recall before May 4 — the 29 million [inflators] — were for driver-side airbags,” NHTSA communications director Bryan Thomas explained. “The vast majority of these new ones are passenger side.”

That means many owners are going to get a new notice to have their Takata inflator replaced, but for a different airbag.

Still, many cars already have had a passenger-side Takata inflator recall. The Subaru Legacy, Outback and Baja, for example, are under a passenger-side recall that overlaps a previous Subaru recall for Takata inflators on all three models. Michael McHale, a Subaru spokesman, told us NHTSA’s additions clarify regional differences, but that means there are many duplicate listings — a situation McHale called “confusing for people.”

“These are, in fact, new recalls,” Thomas told us. “The passenger-side recalls that were done before this month were never comprehensive. It was some models of Takata inflators, and now we’re capturing all the non-desiccated frontal airbag inflators. What makes this really complicated is that even within one make-model-year-type vehicle, you may have more than one type of inflator.”

That’s even before geography comes into play. In NHTSA’s phased approach, Zone A includes model-year 2011 or older cars. Zone B has model-year 2008 or older cars, while Zone C has 2004 or older cars.

It won’t stay that way, however. Earlier model years “may only be under immediate recall in Zone A, and would be subject to recall in Zones B and C at a later date” according to the schedule laid out to Takata, NHTSA said.

Vehicle identification numbers identified in this week’s recall may not be immediately available in NHTSA’s VIN lookup tool, the agency added.

This isn’t the end, either.

“The filings posted today do not represent all the filings that NHTSA expects pertaining to this recall expansion,” the agency said. “We anticipate posting more of the OEM DIRs [defect information reports, a part of the recall process] next week.”

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